Photo credit:
Jennifer Falkinburg, 08/23/2003
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Takoma Park Historic District
Inventory No.:
M: 37-3, PG:65-12
Date Listed:
7/16/1976
Location:
Takoma Park, Montgomery County
Category:
District
Period/Date of Construction:
1883-1920s
Resources:
137 (129 contributing, 5 non-contributing)
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Description:
Takoma Park Historic District was platted in 1883 by developer Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, and promoted for its natural environment and healthy setting. Originally an early railroad suburb, the opening of streetcar lines led to the expansion of the district in the early 20th century. Takoma Park houses built between 1883 and 1900 were fanciful, turreted, multi-gabled affairs of Queen Anne, Stick Style, and Shingle Style influence. These first houses were substantial residences with spacious settings. Lots were deep and houses were set at least 40 feet from the street. By 1886, Takoma Park had a post office and a new railroad station, and the town's population had quadrupled by 1893. The start of streetcar service along Carroll Avenue in 1893 made the adjacent areas more attractive for residential development, leading to new subdivisions. The inexpensive electric streetcar, the availability of low-cost house plans and kit houses in combination with smaller lot sizes made homeownership in Takoma Park possible for individuals with more modest income levels than during the previous period. By 1922, the population soared to 4,144, making Takoma Park the tenth largest incorporated town in Maryland. The houses built in Takoma Park during the period between 1900 and 1930 reveal changing American tastes in house design from the elaborate ornamentation of the late-19th century dwellings to more practical, simplified designs. Many of these early-20th century houses reflect the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which emphasized the inherent nature of the building materials and structural elements for ornamentation. Similarly, they reflect a social trend towards a more informal, unpretentious style of living. Scores of Bungalows, and Craftsman-style houses and catalog-order houses were built in this era. After the turn of the 20th century, schools and libraries began to blossom, and several such community service buildings remain, although with new uses. Takoma Park's commercial districts retain their original early-20th century character. Most of these buildings are 1-2 story brick structures with simple ornamentation, although a few display characteristics of such styles as Art Deco and Tudor Revival.
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Significance:
The Takoma Park Historic District, divided into two sections, is a residential community founded in the early 1880s which retains the original relationship of suburban structures to each other and to the town as a whole. The intentions of the town's founder, B.F. Gilbert, to create a sylvan suburb within easy reach of Washington, D.C., have continued to the present day. The district is in two parts in order to isolate those areas of Takoma Park which best represent the historic character of the town. The individual structures possess a sense of cohesiveness of design expressed in the rhythm established by the large lot sizes in relation to the buildings on them; in the vernacular expression of the popular architectural styles of the late 19th through early 20th centuries, including Queen Anne, Georgian Revival, and bungalow styles, in the predominance of wood as the principal building material in both shingle and clapboard exteriors, in the historical associations of Takoma Park with the American suburban movement as well as with the Seventh Day Adventist Church who chose Takoma Park for its headquarters in 1903, and, finally, the integrity of the district derives from an intangible impact of time and place on visitors.
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District Resources
(137) (129 contributing, 5 non-contributing)
From associated listing in National Register nomination form. C = Contributing, NC = non-contributing, blank = not evaluated.
| 612 Philadelphia Avenue | C | |
| 7301 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7323 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7700 Takoma Avenue | C | M: 37-3-1 -- Carroll House |
| 7704 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7705 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7709 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7711 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7713 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7715 Takoma Avenue | C | |
| 7417 Buffalo Avenue | C | |
| 7422 Buffalo Avenue | C | |
| 7427 Buffalo Avenue | C | |
| 7300 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7308 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7311 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7319 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7325 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7403 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7407 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7409 Baltimore Avenue | C | |
| 7307 Piney Branch Road | C | |
| 7309 Piney Branch Road | C | |
| 7311 Piney Branch Road | C | |
| 7315 Piney Branch Road | C | |
| 7410 Piney Branch Road | C | |
| 7324 Piney Branch Road | C | |
| 7105 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7203 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7206 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7211 Holly Avenue | C | M: 37-3-5 -- Brown-Whitmer House |
| 7210 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7213 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7214 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7217 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7216 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7219 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7301 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7303 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7304 Holly Avenue | C | |
| 7101 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7103 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7105 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7111 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7116 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7100 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7112 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7115 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7209 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7211 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7212 Cedar Avenue | C | M: 37-3-7 -- Milmoe Property |
| 7214 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7221 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7204 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7309 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7421 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7300 Cedar Avenue | C | |
| 7102-7108 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7116 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7122 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7124 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7137 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7139 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7207 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7209 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7213 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7219 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7302 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7208 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7305 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7310 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7316 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7402 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7408 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7410 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 7412 Maple Avenue | C | |
| 201 Tulip Avenue | C | M: 37-3-2 -- Thomas-Siegler House |
| 210 Tulip Avenue | C | |
| 214 Tulip Avenue | C | |
| 7047 Eastern Avenue | C | |
| 7 Pine Avenue | C | |
| 10 Pine Avenue | C | |
| 25 Pine Avenue | C | |
| 27 Pine Avenue | C | |
| 17 Pine Avenue | C | |
| 19 Pine Avenue | C | |
| 5 Montgomery Avenue | C | |
| 10 Montgomery Avenue | C | |
| 15 Montgomery Avenue | C | |
| 20 Montgomery Avenue | C | |
| 24 Montgomery Avenue | C | |
| 4 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 5 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 6 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 10 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 14 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 18 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 22 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 28 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 30 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 32 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 33 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 35 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 37 Hickory Avenue | C | |
| 20 Columbia Avenue | C | |
| 23 Columbia Avenue | C | |
| 24 Columbia Avenue | C | |
| 7009 Poplar Avenue | C | |
| 7015 Poplar Avenue | C | |
| 7017 Poplar Avenue | C | |
| 7105 Poplar Avenue | C | |
| 7110 Poplar Avenue | C | |
| 7113 Poplar Avenue | C | |
| 7004 Sycamore Avenue | C | |
| 7007 Sycamore Avenue | C | |
| 7111 Sycamore Avenue | C | |
| 7116 Sycamore Avenue | C | |
| 7117 Sycamore Avenue | C | |
| 7119 Sycamore Avenue | C | |
| 7012 Woodland Avenue | C | |
| 7014 Woodland Avenue | C | |
| 7104 Woodland Avenue | C | |
| 7110 Woodland Avenue | C | |
| 7114 Woodland Avenue | C | |
| 7118 Woodland Avenue | C | |
| 403 Beech Avenue | C | |
| 7212 Willow Avenue | C | |
| 7226 Spruce Avenue | C | |
| 7120 Willow Avenue | C | |
| 1100 Linden Avenue (7101 New Hampshire) | NC | M: 37-3-10 -- Hillwood Manor Apartments |
| Fenton Street and New York Avenue (7600 Takoma Avenue) | NC | Montgomery College |
| Carroll Avenue | NC | Takoma Tower |
| 400 Block of Tulip Avenue | NC | Garden Apartments |
| 7100 Block of Maple Avenue, Carroll Avenue, and Willows Avenue | NC | Commercial Buildings |
| 50 and 54 Elm Avenue | | |
| 7126 Sycamore Avenue | | M: 37-3-4 -- Treadwell House |
| 7025 Eastern Avenue | | M: 37-3-8 -- R.W. Shufeldt House |
TEA-21 funds,
administered by the Maryland State Highway Administration, supported data development for this project.